GF60R A Westerly story

[wright1]

Hello folks, I have just joined the board and in my reply to Don to secure my admission I mentioned a conversation I had with a very fine gentleman about a problem I had with my GF60R in the late 90's. I have had my GF from new and it is in need of a refret which is something I have never had to do to a guitar I have had from new so it just shows how much I have played it. Despite it's idiosyncrasies I am pretty sure it is one instrument I will never willingly part with.I have had it over 20 years already.
Back in the 90's the action was begining to get a little high and this was put down to the top rising a little. With the saddle as low as possible it was still too high. What to do? Well I took the bold step and phoned Guild at Westerly,explained my problem and was put in touch with a gentleman who talked me through the options and we decided that the best cure was to reduce the bridge height which I did and touch wood everything has been fine in the years after. How many manufacturers would have taken the trouble to talk to me,let alone answer the phone?!! I cannot remember the name of this gentleman but Don suggested that maybe this person uses this board so if you remember talking to a guy called Steve phoning from London, England in the late 90's about a GF60R then thankyou again.
On the subject of refrets are there any opinions as to the best type of wire to use for a first refret on a guitar of this type?
Oh, had a JF65 12 string. A monster of a guitar in maple. Sadly never saw much use so was moved on many years ago.I would also be interested to hear from anyone with a GF60 who has had any problems like mine or any other problems. Did George Gruhn really design this instrument?

Many thanks for reading.

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Wright1 and welcome:

Can't help with the re-fret question but I second your nomination of Guild as the Guitar Manufacturer of the last, if not this, Century.

J

 

[FNG]

Welcome! The Gruhn Guilds sure seem to be great guitars. Can't speak to the refret, but it would seem that your repair tech should be able to make good recommendations.

I wouldn't expect the same level of service from FMIC as the old days, at least from my experience. The customer relations folks at FMIC are corporate schmoes who are experts of washing their hands of problems, at least in my case. I am really leary of getting another new Guild.

 

[Jeff]

Wright1,

Congratulations on wearing out a set if frets all by yourself. Welcome aboard LTG. There are several members here with GF 60 R's, I'm one of them.

I'll show you mine if you'll show yours. Particularly I'd like to see the bridge modification on yours. . [img:338:450]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid224/p27ab13f17e30a27658774ddb35936ace/ea948e8a.jpg[/img]

Regarding the frets. My GF 60 has big fat frets, I was told they are Gibson style. ?? I haven't noticed the bigger frets play much differently. Mine are virtually new but if I was going to replace them I'd likely try & duplicate the bigger frets.

 

[wright1]

Hi, thanks for your replies. FNG,I am lucky that I can do most repairs myself. I did have a PLEK fret job on a troublesome Les Paul custom just to see if a machine could do a better job than a human and to be honest the result was not bad. It cured the problems it had when it left the Gibson factory. My only resevation was that considering these were new frets a lot of metal seemed to be missing when the blurb suggests that the PLEK system works to 1000ths of an inch. I don't think I will pay $250 for a fret leveling again.
Jeff, Nice GF! mine is in natural.No offence to anyone but for some reason the Guild sunburst is a little too red for my taste. The bridge adjustment was just to shave the top with a plane and deepen the saddle slot almost down to the soundboard. To look at it you would not know anything had been done. It looks just like yours,only thinner! It was interesting to hear that you have fat Gibson type frets. Mine are a normal medium type a little bit smaller than a Martin, more like a vintage Gibson fret. Are yours original?I'll try to post pics as soon as my son shows me how to do it!!!
Thanks again

 

[john_kidder]

Delighted to hear from another GF-60R owner. Mine will not leave my side either.

Yes, George Gruhn did design this guitar - it was originally the F-46, and was renamed the GF-60R after he left the company. Gruhn was responsible for the F-44/46, D-64/66, the Nightbird, the Studio 24, and various derivatives and related models. Just search "Gruhn" using the <<Search>> tool at the top of the page on this board, and you'll be given many references to his designs, company history, etc.

Welcome aboard.

 

[plaidseason]

It could have been Jim Inman, who was often the first point of contact for such issues. I dealt with him at one point and he went way beyond my expectations to ensure that I continued to be a satisfied Guild customer.

There were a lot of great folks working over there in Westerly. If nothing else, we New Englanders take a lot of pride in our work and ensuring that every customer is a satisfied customer.

-Chris

 

[Gruhn Loon]

Greetings Wright1,

In addition to all the great searchable information here on LTG, GF60 fans, Gruhn devotees, and all Guild fans in general are looking forward to the second volume of Hans Moust's "The Guild Guitar Book".

I know I am anxiously anticipating reading the definitive information on these Gruhn designed models that will be provided by Hans. If you are unfamiliar with the first volume I would certainly recommend it for your perusal.

Nice to hear from you.

 

[wright1]

Gruhn Loon, I have had a copy of Hans book for many years and I too am looking forward to volume 2. I also have a book by Ted Beesley which while not perfect has a few tit bits that are useful and plenty of odd references that are helpful if you read between the lines. I imagine most of you hard core Guildies have all this and more.